Passenger list for the ‘Conrad’ in 1850

Transcription of the passenger list for the ‘Conrad’ in 1850.

Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll

In 1850 a hundred and sixty-seven men, women and children from Tiree left for Canada on board the ‘Conrad’. Between 1847 and 1853, 1354 islanders were given assistance by the 8th Duke to emigrate. This was equivalent to 27% of the island’s population in 1841.

The majority of those who emigrated were small tenants and landless cottars. Argyll Estate papers recording Tiree rentals show that between 1847 and 1861 tenants paying under £5 rent were reduced by 78% while those paying over £10 were increased by 120%.

The total number of tenancies was reduced by a third while the income in rentals increased from £2,618 to £3,394. It is undoubtedly true that the island was left more prosperous but it was at the cost of considerable social suffering.

Passenger list for the ‘Charlotte’ in 1849

Transcription of the passenger list for the ‘Charlotte’ bound for Montreal in 1849.

Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll

In 1849, 364 men, women and children left Tiree to emigrate to Canada, 339 of them on board the ‘Charlotte’, the remainder on the ‘Barlow’. Nearly three-quarters of them were landless cottar families. Over half were aged under eighteen.

After three years of blighted potato crops, conditions on the island were appalling. The implementation of the ‘destitution test’ in the previous year meant that no-one was eligible for relief unless all their means were exhausted. All able-bodied persons were excluded.

Argyll Estate papers show a fall of 1795 in the population of Tiree between 1841 and 1849, of which some 950 can be accounted for through emigration. The rest presumably left to find employment on the mainland.